AATCC Announces
2009 Materials Design Competition Winners

AATCC congratulates the entrants and winners in its fourth annual Materials Design Competition for students. Submissions are invited each year from both undergraduate and graduate students. The aim of the competition, developed by the AATCC Materials Interest Group, is to promote innovative product development from a material structures design perspective.

Students had a choice of three categories for their entries. All entries were evaluated on concept originality, design element integration, technical feasibility, clarity of supporting documentation, technical and materials rationale, efficacy of the proposed commercialization of the idea, and viability of economic cost analysis.

Winning entries received cash awards of US$1,000 for first place and US$500 for second place, plus complimentary student registrations for the AATCC International Conference in Atlanta, Ga., USA, to be held May 18-20, 2010.

Judges were Dr. Philip J. Brown, Clemson University; Dr. Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University; Mr. Kanti Jasani, Performance and Technical Textile Consulting; and Ms. Cynthia McNaull, Invista – Performance Surfaces and Materials.

The 2009 winners submitted entries in the Industrial/Technical and Sports Materials category.

1st Place
Temp-A-Tote: Solving the Dilemma of Storing Portable Electronics in Automobiles by Elizabeth Hathaway, Amanda Shearin, Ashley Amick, and Ivy Bunn, North Carolina State University

2nd Place
Design and Preparation of Super-hydrophobic and Anti-microbial Fabric by Jinmei Du, North Carolina State University

For more about the competition and updates on the 2010 competition, visit www.aatcc.org/students/index.htm and click “Design Competitions.” Photos of the winning entries are available here and at www.aatcc.org/media/pr.